Dutch vs Swedish: 300 Words That Are Nearly Identical

If you already speak Dutch, a surprising number of Swedish words look as though a letter has simply been shaved off or swapped — and the same goes in reverse if you're coming from Swedish into Dutch. This list lines up pairs by their shared English meaning so you can see where the two languages match exactly, almost match, or diverge by a single letter.

Use it to fast-track vocabulary you may already half-know, and to train your eye on the small, repeating spelling shifts between Dutch and Swedish — the kind of patterns that, once you notice them, make an educated guess at a new word much more reliable.

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Dutch vs Swedish: 300 Words That Are Nearly Identical: the list

#EnglishDutchSwedish
1good goed god
2day dag dag
3time tijd tid
4whole heel hel
5hand hand hand
6problem probleem problem
7father vader fader
8mother moeder moder
9work werk verk
10all alle all
11mom mama mamma
12dad papa pappa
13exactly precies precis
14pair paar par
15down neer ner
16own eigen egen
17brother broer bror
18place plaats plats
19plan plan plan
20weapon wapen vapen
21agent agent agent
22order orde order
23country land land
24moment moment moment
25doctor dokter doktor
26part deel del
27dollar dollar dollar
28open open öppen
29blood bloed blod
30number nummer nummer
31photo foto foto
32telephone telefoon telefon
33hot heet het
34murder moord mord
35person persoon person
36baby baby baby
37dog hond hund
38rest rest rest
39strong sterk stark
40perfect perfect perfekt
41red rood röd
42team team team
43information informatie information
44round rond rund
45half half halv
46ok ok ok
47loose los lös
48president president president
49ground grond grund
50normal normaal normal
51point punt punkt
52game spel spel
53party feest fest
54to survive overleven överleva
55ring ring ring
56absolute absoluut absolut
57fantastic fantastisch fantastisk
58king koning konung
59directly direct direkt
60hate haat hat
61pistol pistool pistol
62short kort kort
63dream droom dröm
64band band band
65rich rijk rik
66end einde ende
67interesting interessant intressant
68partner partner partner
69price prijs pris
70camera camera kamera
71special speciaal special
72situation situatie situation
73meter meter meter
74role rol roll
75enormous enorm enorm
76cool cool cool
77ball bal bal
78bomb bom bomb
79sign teken tecken
80operation operatie operation
81glass glas glas
82top top topp
83success succes succé
84extra extra extra
85address adres adress
86show show show
87list lijst list
88warm warm varm
89cat kat katt
90park park park
91respect respect respekt
92idiot idioot idiot
93stone steen sten
94blow slag slag
95deal deal deal
96monster monster monster
97prepared bereid beredd
98border grens gräns
99holy heilig helig
100english engels engelsk
101lunch lunch lunch
102cell cel cell
103hunger honger hunger
104to accept accepteren acceptera
105explanation verklaring förklaring
106green groen grön
107report rapport rapport
108professor professor professor
109test test test
110colleague collega kollega
111decision besluit beslut
112exact exact exakt
113kilometer kilometer kilometer
114drink drank drink
115restaurant restaurant restaurang
116program programma program
117french frans fransk
118energy energie energi
119simple simpel simpel
120class klas klass
121signal signaal signal
122total totaal total
123aunt tante tant
124form vorm form
125distance afstand avstånd
126to arrest arresteren arrestera
127taxi taxi taxi
128to bury begraven begravera
129officer officier officer
130percent procent procent
131dna dna dna
132politics politiek politik
133mistake misstap misstag
134art kunst konst
135project project projekt
136magic magie magi
137blind blind blind
138prince prins prins
139pleasant aangenaam angenäm
140skin huid hud
141detective detective detektiv
142official officieel officiell
143double dubbel dubbelt
144courage moed mod
145mail post post
146smoke rook rök
147interest interesse intresse
148quality kwaliteit kvalitet
149famous beroemd berömd
150exciting spannend spännande
151panic paniek panik
152degrees graad grad
153punishment straf straff
154taste smaak smak
155department afdeling avdelning
156pilot piloot pilot
157start start start
158ambulance ambulance ambulans
159bride bruid brud
160american amerikaans amerikansk
161commissioner commissaris kommissarie
162article artikel artikel
163local lokaal lokal
164date date date
165super super super
166tone toon ton
167nature natuur natur
168wild wild vild
169assistant assistent assistent
170medicine medicijn medicin
171romantic romantisch romantisk
172patient patiënt patient
173kilo kilo kilo
174pizza pizza pizza
175sunday zondag söndag
176cent cent cent
177spy spion spion
178minister minister minister
179internet internet internet
180monday maandag måndag
181treatment behandeling behandling
182staff personeel personal
183sexy sexy sexy
184alarm alarm larm
185uniform uniform uniform
186national nationaal nationell
187style stijl stil
188universe universum universum
189social sociaal social
190center centrum centrum
191coach coach coach
192model model modell
193ex ex ex
194material materiaal material
195copy kopie kopia
196illegal illegaal illegal
197champagne champagne champagne
198mile mijl mil
199bread brood bröd
200whisky whisky whisky
201expert expert expert
202brave moedig modig
203truck truck truck
204to present presenteren presentera
205driver chauffeur chaufför
206helicopter helikopter helikopter
207rain regen regn
208college college college
209dust stof stoft
210manager manager manager
211data data data
212ash as as
213tip tip tips
214terrorists terrorist terrorister
215pale bleek blek
216identity identiteit identitet
217experiment experiment experiment
218training training träning
219media media media
220robot robot robot
221garage garage garage
222ocean oceaan ocean
223effect effect effekt
224unique uniek unik
225desire lust lust
226alibi alibi alibi
227journalist journalist journalist
228generation generatie generation
229chip chip chip
230pension pensioen pension
231rocket raket raket
232alternative alternatief alternativ
233popular populair populär
234brilliant briljant briljant
235alcohol alcohol alkohol
236profit winst vinst
237favor gunst gunst
238professional professioneel professionell
239organization organisatie organisation
240modern modern modern
241candidate kandidaat kandidat
242international internationaal internationell
243tiger tijger tiger
244gas gas gas
245brown bruin brun
246belly buik buk
247series serie serie
248fort fort fort
249legend legende legend
250symbol symbool symbol
251property eigendom egendom
252leaf blad blad
253physical fysiek fysisk
254emotional emotioneel emotionell
255email e-mail e-mail
256reward beloning belöning
257sport sport sport
258to repair repareren reparera
259metal metaal metall
260trade handel handel
261edge rand rand
262federal federale federal
263principle principe princip
264mystery mysterie mysterium
265circle cirkel cirkel
266tradition traditie tradition
267central centrale central
268to inform informeren informera
269title titel titel
270entrance ingang ingång
271race ras ras
272specific specifiek specifik
273diary dagboek dagbok
274recipe recept recept
275route route route
276block blok block
277original origineel originell
278product product produkt
279museum museum museum
280tension spanning spänning
281vision visioen vision
282character karakter karaktär
283financial financieel finansiell
284stomach maag mag
285constant constant konstant
286intelligent intelligent intelligent
287exam examen examen
288stress stress stress
289zombie zombie zombie
290clown clown clown
291comment commentaar kommentar
292mouse muis mus
293zone zone zon
294september september september
295cook kok kock
296package pakket paket
297equipment uitrusting utrustning
298to organize organiseren organisera
299nails nagel nagel
300coma coma koma

Tips

Frequently asked questions

Are Dutch and Swedish similar enough to learn together?

They share a lot of vocabulary with fairly predictable spelling shifts, as this list shows, but their grammar differs enough that you should learn each language's structure on its own. Vocabulary recognition transfers well; sentence-building does not transfer automatically.

Will knowing these word pairs help me sound natural, or just help me read?

Reading and listening comprehension benefit first, since matching spelling doesn't guarantee matching pronunciation or identical everyday usage. Practising with spaced repetition and typing the words yourself, as you do in Vocab Voyage, helps turn recognition into active recall.

How do I start practising this list?

Sign up free with just an email address — no card and no password needed. The app then shows you the English word and asks you to type the Dutch form, with accents forgiven so small slips won't count against you.

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